


i'd color you with rainy skies

by granderre (patroclvss)



Series: carry me home [2]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, M/M, bucky pines a lot, if he pined harder he would turn into a PINE tree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 18:45:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3702259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroclvss/pseuds/granderre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky really likes Steve. It's kind of a problem.</p><p>Or: Bucky pines. A lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'd color you with rainy skies

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be a sequel of the first fic of this series, but it can be read on its own!!!  
> i just hope the characters arent too OOC [sweats nervously]  
> 

The group text comes at eight in the morning on a Saturday, when Bucky is still half-drooling on his pillow. He’s been trying to ignore both the ray of sunlight filtering through the blinds that falls right on his closed eyes and his sister, who’s loudly arguing with someone on the phone about who knows what. Needless to say, he’s failing spectacularly.

Groaning, he reaches for the phone on his nightstand and _great_ , Natasha wants to go paintballing again.

He swears he still has bruises from last month: that girl is fucking vicious and unsurprisingly handy with a paintball gun. Sam probably still has nightmares, and he was on her team.

Before he can answer his phone beeps again.

 

Sam (8:03)

nat no

 

Nat (8:04)

nat yes :)))

 

Sam (8:04)

absolutely not there’s a bruise on my lower back and its steve’s fault

 

Nat (8:05)

told you the little shit was dangerous

 

Sam (8:06)

yeah ok but i wasnt expecting him to pop out of thin air and shoot me

 

Steve (8:06)

constant vigilance sam

 

Bucky muffles his laugh with his pillow. It would be easy to just close his eyes and go back to sleep, back to the actually really nice dream he was having - it involved him and Steve and a sunset. It’s possible Bucky might have a tiny little crush on him. Very tiny, though. Practically invisible.

It’s also possible he’s lying to himself.

He stifles a yawn and raises his head again, only to find more three more texts in their group chat - it’s actually named ‘freedom squad’, with the added bonus of the american flag emoji. Sometimes he doesn’t understand Natasha’s sense of humor.

 

Nat (8:07)

someone wake bucky

 

Steve (8:07)

its saturday you know how he is

 

Steve (8:08)

besides if he hasnt woken up by now i doubt he will he could sleep through world war iii

 

He laughs again, but this time he decides to answer and kicks the blankets off his body, dangling his feet off the edge of the bed.

 

You (8:09)

i heard that you were talking shit and you didnt think i would hear it

 

Steve (8:10)

im amazed at your ability to quote gwen stefani at this hour in the morning what happened

 

Steve (8:10)

did someone die are you physically ill do you need to tell me something bucky

 

You (8:11)

hahaha really funny

 

Nat (8:12)

such humour

 

Sam (8:12)

much laugh

 

Steve (8:12)

wow

 

You (8:13)

its too early for this

 

You (8:13)

also no we’re not gonna go paintballing again nat we’re all still recovering

 

Nat (8:13)

spoilsport

 

Sam (8:14)

lets go get pancakes i want pancakes

 

You (8:14)

fine. give me twenty minutes to get there

 

“There” is their favorite diner, a hole-in-the-wall place that’s a five minutes walk away from where Bucky lives. They’ve been going there since the start of junior year - the year when Bucky met Steve and they became friends, clicking with each other in a way that made Bucky wonder how he didn’t notice something was missing until he stumbled into a bloody, beaten up Steve lying on the locker room floor.

The phone keeps beeping as he runs into the bathroom to wash his teeth, one-handedly pulling up his jeans without bothering with changing his underwear - whatever, he’s a gross teenage boy, he’s allowed to be disgusting once in a while – and trying to remember where he left his boots the night before.

When he walks back into his room, his mouth no longer tasting like something had died in there, he manages to find one of them under his bed and the other not far behind. He’s just slipped them on when his sister walks in, throwing a blue scrunchie at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Mom says you should cut your hair, you know,” she says, leaning on the doorframe. Bucky just huffs in response and catches the scrunchie with his left hand, wordlessly pulling his hair up in a ponytail.

“I like it more like this. Besides, girls dig it,” he says with a smirk on his lips, and he can see his sister roll her eyes.

“That would make more sense if you actually liked girls,” she answers, and Bucky can’t help but snort and ruffle her hair as he walks past her and out of his room, ignoring the offended curses she throws at him.

On the way to the door he stops to say goodbye to his mom, kissing her cheek as she washes the dishes in their tiny kitchen, and walks out of the apartment with a smile on his face.

The elevator is broken – as usual – so he runs down the stairs, phone still making that annoying whistling noise he has as his ringtone, and in less than a minute he’s out of the building, breathing in the smog-filled air of the Brooklyn streets.

He checks the new messages as he walks to the diner, trying to keep from bumping into anyone – which is actually pretty difficult, focused as he is on his phone screen.

 

Steve (8:14)

dont be late im almost already there

 

Nat (8:15)

same

 

Sam (8:15)

i swear u guys know how to teleport

 

Nat (8:16)

or youre just slow. either way dont be late Wilson : )

 

Sam (8:16)

give me a minute to drop off my niece. im gonna be nominated best uncle of the year you guys

 

Steve (8:17)

awww how is emily?

 

Nat (8:18)

did she like the nerf gun we got her?

 

Sam (8:19)

she’s fine!!! and she loves the nerf gun. a little too much probably she cant turn into a mini you nat weve been through this it would be a matter of national security

 

Sam (8:19)

anyway here she is

 

[PICTURE ATTACHEMENT. DOWNLOAD?]

 

Bucky smiles, narrowly avoiding a lamp post as he downloads the picture of Sam’s 10 year old niece, smiling up at the camera while holding the nerf gun.

She’s the cutest kid, with huge brown eyes and dark curly hair, and always lets Bucky borrow a scrunchie when he needs one. She also has a huge crush on Pepper Potts, one of Natasha’s friends, but Bucky’s not gonna hold that against her. He has a huge, impossible crush on someone he can’t have too: he’s in no position to judge.

He’s so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t realize he’s already in front of the diner, and he slips his phone in his pocket without bothering to read the remaining messages.

He can spot Steve’s blonde hair and Natasha from the door, and he walks in, beginning to smile without even realizing.

Steve turns around when he notices Nat waving with a small smile on her lips, and he fucking beams at Bucky like he’s the best thing he’s seen all week. It makes Bucky’s heart flip in his chest like it’s a pancake and Steve’s the one holding the pan and he really doesn’t come up with the best metaphors at 8:30am, but he doesn’t care.

His heart still hasn’t stopped fluttering as he makes his way towards the table, and Steve scoots over to make space for Bucky in the small booth.

Their thighs touch as he sits down and Bucky needs to get his shit together, because this is borderline ridiculous.

He’s not sure he’s more angry at himself or at the smile on Nat’s face that’s quickly morphing into a knowing smirk, but he doesn’t have time to decide, because that’s the moment when Sam walks in, smiling at them.

Morning people, he scoffs to himself.

“How are you lads doing on this jolly good morning?” Sam asks as he sits down next to Natasha, faking a frankly terrible English accent.

Natasha snorts, waving at the waitress so she can take their order.

“Bucky here looks like a Dawn of the Dead extra, but apart from that we’re fine,” she answers, and Bucky can only summon enough force to glare at her, only for his angry expression to soften when he hears Steve chuckle next to him.

He mentally crosses his fingers, hoping it goes unnoticed, but he has no such luck.

Natasha has a shit-eating grin on his face, perfectly matched by Sam’s own smile, and this is going to end in heartbreak and tears – at least on Bucky’s part.

They both know about his hopeless crush – it took months of poking and prodding, but eventually he told them, one day where Steve had the flu and was forced to stay in bed for a week – and while he made them promise not to tell Steve, there were times where they couldn’t help making comments that hit a little bit too close to home for Bucky’s liking. This is going to be one of those times.

Just as Natasha opens her mouth and sucks in a breath, obviously ready to say something that would probably ruin Bucky’s life forever and leave him to die on his own – and no, he’s not being dramatic, ok – the waitress walks up to them, smiling warmly.

“Hello, what are you having today?”

Natasha closes her mouth and Bucky thanks all the gods he can name for distracting her, just as Steve smiles up at the waitress. Her name is Raven, and she’s known them long enough that she already knows what they’re going to order, but she still asks every time – she says she wants to be professional.

She probably also has access to their school records and everything, since her brother Charles is their biology teacher, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Is the usual okay with you guys?” Steve asks them, and Sam and Natasha nod at him, but Bucky is too busy thinking about luck smiling down at him, so he doesn’t answer. When Steve pokes him on the shoulder to get his attention, though, he makes the mistake of turning to face him and. Steve’s really close. Too close.

Close enough that Bucky can see himself in his eyes, and he immediately moves away from Steve and his slack-jawed reflection, and if he thinks he sees Steve’s expression fall, he tells himself he’s only imagining it.

“Yeah, of course. The usual’s great,” he tells the waitress, his eyes firmly staring at the table.

Raven smiles again and walks away, tapping her pen on the block of post-its she carries to the rhythm of the song playing on the radio that sits on the counter of the small diner.

When Bucky looks up again, he’s met with the sight of Natasha’s disappointed expression, lips pursed like she’s about to say something, but whatever it is, she stops after looking at Bucky’s face. He wonders what she sees.

Heartbreak and crushing disappointment in himself, probably.

Bucky sighs, playing with the metal bracelet on his left wrist, and tries to get the conversation going again - the awkward silence weighing down on them is his fault, after all.

“So, how’s Emily?” he asks, and Sam’s face lights up like a Christmas tree as he talks about how his niece is doing so well in school and it’s all because of the Wilson genes.

Natasha and Steve smile as they listen, and Bucky lets out a relieved sigh, leaning his back against the booth, and pays attention to Sam’s recap of Emily’s latest adventure, that apparently involved her nerf gun and squirrels in Central Park.

As soon as their order arrives – pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries for Sam and Steve, and chocolate-covered waffles for Bucky and Natasha – the awkwardness has disappeared completely, and Bucky smiles before starting to wolf down his waffles in a not very classy manner, according to Natasha’s mildly disgusted face.

The conversation stops while they’re all eating, the only noise being the constant sounds of chattering voices of the other patrons in the diner, and Bucky smiles again. It’s Saturday – the only day where he doesn’t have school and he also doesn’t have to go work at the grocery store - and he’s spending it with his favorite people in the world. He swears he can actually hear Natasha’s voice calling him a huge sap, but right now, he doesn’t care at all. His left thigh is still touching Steve’s right one and all in all, he’s pretty happy with his life right now.

He’s so lost in his thoughts he doesn’t even realize Steve’s stealing a piece of his waffle until he’s confronted with Steve’s smug face, a chocolate stain on the corner of his mouth.

Bucky really, _really_ wants to lick it off.

He retaliates by stealing one of the strawberries left on Steve’s plate and sticking his tongue out at him, while Sam and Natasha laugh at both of them.

“You’re actually six year olds, I swear to god you do this every time –“ she starts, only to be interrupted by Bucky flipping her off with his right hand, still holding the stolen strawberry in the other, and she just keeps laughing.

Steve is laughing too, his bright blue eyes shining under the diner’s lights, and Bucky’s hit with what feels like a damn tank of warm fuzzy feelings he doesn’t particularly want to dwell on, so he just stuffs the strawberry in his mouth and smiles with his lips pressed together.

All things considered, it’s kind of a great morning.

 

*-*-*

 

The sky is promising rain when they walk out of the diner, and Bucky notices Steve shivering and wrapping his jacket tighter around himself. He hasn’t changed much since Bucky met him first, still shorter and skinnier than him, but the difference is much more noticeable now that Bucky actually started working out and got some muscles – sure, Steve’s not as scrawny as he was before, but he’s still almost a foot shorter than Bucky.

Maybe it’s because of how their first meeting went, but Bucky’s still hit with that feeling of protectiveness that makes him forget about anything else but the boy in front of him sometimes. And that’s the only reason why he zips down his hoodie and nudges Steve with his shoulder, handing it to him without saying a word. Not because he likes seeing Steve in his clothes, that would be really creepy and kind of weird.

Steve looks up at him and there’s something in his eyes that makes Bucky feel like he’s just lost his footing, but when he looks down Steve’s stubbornly refusing his offer, putting a hand on Bucky’s to push the hoodie away.

Bucky rolls his eyes.

“Come on, Rogers, you’re freezing. Take the hoodie,” he says, feeling Natasha’s stare on the back of his head. He’s not going to turn around to see her laughing at him, absolutely not.

Steve looks conflicted, but Bucky’s still staring him down, so he just takes the hoodie with a huff, hands his jacket to Bucky, and puts it on, immediately taking back his jacket and putting that on too.

He’s not shivering anymore, and Bucky smiles down at him, while Steve’s still huffing. His cheeks are red, but that’s probably the cold, and Bucky lets it go, still smiling so wide his cheeks are starting to hurt.

He vaguely registers Sam making fake gagging noises behind them, but he doesn’t care – what he actually hears is Natasha’s “so that’s how it is? Bucky gives you his hoodie and you lose your chill, Rogers?” emphasizing the word ‘chill’ with some very suggestive eyebrow waggling, and Steve’s answering groan at the terrible pun.

Sam and Bucky both snort, mostly at Steve’s pained face, and they start walking down the streets of Brooklyn without any destination in particular. Sam and Natasha lead the way, arguing about whether they can get Emily another nerf gun and ammunitions for her birthday that’s coming up in a few weeks – the first one was a spur of the moment kind of thing, after Sam mentioned she really wanted to try paintball but when Sam asked they told him she was too young.

Steve and Bucky walk right behind them, listening in without really saying anything, and Bucky quickly looks away  blushing when he notices Steve’s hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie, completely ignoring his jacket pockets.

He doesn’t even notice that they’re walking towards Fort Greene Park until they’re in front of it, and the wind carries over the sound of children playing despite the cold morning air and the cloudy sky.

Bucky’s still silent, occasionally chiming in with a comment, but he’s happy with walking next to Steve, who now has taken his hands out of his pockets. Their fingers accidentally brush together, and Bucky blushes even redder than before, resisting every voice in his head that’s currently yelling at him to get over himself and hold Steve’s hand.

They’re inside the park now, and Bucky would be scared of how he’s so focused on Steve he doesn’t even realize how he got there, but he has accepted the way his mind is constantly occupied by thoughts of the blond boy next to him a long time ago. He’s not worried anymore, just scared, because if Steve finds out? It’s going to ruin their friendship, probably forever. He knows Steve is bisexual, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s obvious he only sees Bucky as a friend, despite Natasha telling him otherwise: Steve does not like him that way.

And Bucky’s fine with it, really, except it’s kind of hard to resist when Steve’s being funny - or when he’s just came out of a fight with  the asshole of the day, or when he’s just nice and good and everything Bucky wants, all tied up in a neat little package of blue eyes and righteous fury – and it would be so easy to just lean down and kiss him, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Bucky’s thought about this so many times, most of them in his bed late at night, when the only things he can hear are the cars passing in front of the apartment block where he lives and the sound of his own breathing.

He’s kind of really pathetic.

Natasha tells him so almost every day, every time she catches Bucky looking at Steve like he’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen – which is pretty much always – and urges him to make a move, always with the same expression on her face: a mix of frustration and disappointment, and it gets on Bucky’s nerves because hey, _join the club_.

They’re under one of the many park trees now, and Steve’s sitting down leaning his back against it while Sam and Natasha keep talking animatedly. There’s a group of kids playing football, and when their ball ends up near Bucky’s feet he kicks it back to a dark haired girl that yells back a loud thanks.

He’s about to sit down too, at a safe distance from Steve, but the other boy just catches Bucky’s shirt sleeve and pulls him down next to him, and Bucky’s stomach is doing so many things at once he forgets to be nervous about the lack of space between them.

He doesn’t even flinch when Steve rests his head against Bucky’s shoulder, and he probably deserves a medal for that, because their hands are so close to each other their pinky fingers are touching and Bucky is having trouble breathing, but then Steve starts speaking and Bucky’s too busy paying attention to what he’s saying to worry about their pinkies.

“You know, this is really nice. You make a good pillow,” he says, voice so low he might as well be whispering, and Bucky wonders if he can hear the frantic beating on his heart with the way his ear is pressed against Bucky’s shoulder.

“Do I? I should make you pay for the service,” he whispers back, and now their hands are definitely touching and Bucky is not going to survive this. He’s going to spontaneously combust and not even the cold air is going to stop him.

“You just made yourself sound like some kind of affection prostitute,” Steve snorts, and Bucky snorts too, just as Steve raises his head from his shoulder and looks around.

“Did Natasha and Sam leave?” he asks, but Bucky is kind of distracted by the sudden lack of Steve’s weight on his shoulder, so he doesn’t immediately answer.

“Seems like it,” he manages to say, and Steve sighs quietly and of course he doesn’t want to be left alone with him, but Bucky is not going to think about that. That particular train of thought leads to Self-Pity Town and Bucky doesn’t want to go there, not today. He keeps staring at the kids playing football in front of them.

Steve’s hand is still on his, though. That has to mean something, and Bucky focuses on that, the way Steve’s cold fingers feel on the back of his knuckles, and nothing else.

That’s why he doesn’t notice how Steve is taking a deep breath, like he’s about to run a marathon, that’s why he doesn’t see Steve’s eyebrows furrow in a determined expression, that’s why he’s absolutely not prepared to see Steve’s eyes stare him down when he turns to look at their joined hands.

That’s why he’s shell-shocked when Steve kisses him, closed-mouthed, and his lips are chapped but full and Bucky’s still not moving, because he can’t actually believe it’s happening.

Steve pulls away, though, his eyes so wide and sad and he looks like he’s about to say “sorry” and Bucky knows that his heart wouldn’t survive that, and that’s why he just leans down and kisses Steve again.

The angle is awkward and uncomfortable and Bucky’s putting all of his weight on his left hand, still pressed under Steve’s right one, but now their fingers are intertwined and Steve’s lips are everything Bucky’s ever dreamed about and then some, and it’s really fucking perfect.

His other hand curls in Steve’s hair and he keeps it there when they part, still so close to each other that Bucky can count the flecks of gold in Steve’s blue eyes, and he feels like flying.

He can’t help but smile as wide as his mouth will let him, and Steve smiles too, and they’re holding hands and Steve’s left hand is on the nape of Bucky’s neck, a warm weight that reminds him that yeah, that happened. They just kissed. He just kissed Steve Rogers.

He’s pretty sure Steve’s lips just short-circuited his brain, because he can’t think about anything else apart from the fact that they kissed. They fucking kissed.

Then Steve starts laughing – more like giggling, and hides his face in the crook between Bucky’s neck and his shoulder, and Bucky’s only though is, _that’s really fucking cute_.

“I’ve wanted to do that for ages,” he whispers, and Bucky feels more than hears his words, the vibrations going somehow straight to his heart, and he’s still smiling and he feels light as a feather, like Steve kissing him dissolved whatever was weighing him down.

“Me too, you know?” he answers, and he gets a lap full of Steve Rogers for his trouble. He has no idea how he managed to do that, but somehow Steve was able to climb him in under 0.2 seconds and still keep their hands joined together, and now he’s kissing him again, and since Bucky’s not an idiot, he’s not going to complain.

He faintly hears Natasha and Sam’s wolf-whistling from somewhere behind them – they probably were listening in the entire time, the fuckers – but ignores it in favor of the boy that’s kissing him like his life depends on it.

He kisses back for all he’s worth, their hands still intertwined, and he doesn’t care about anything but the feel of Steve’s lips on his. When they break apart again he rests their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

The air around them is getting colder and colder, and when Bucky opens his eyes again he can see his breath coming up in little clouds of white air, but he doesn’t care. Steve’s hands now are warm, and so are his lips, and it’s more than good for him.

It’s actually all kinds of perfect, and this time when Bucky grins he can feel Steve’s smile pressed against his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to one direction and eating chocolate while writing this blame it on easter eggs and pop music  
> (also, raven and charles make a cameo because i watched xmen first class instead of studying)
> 
> title is from 'the sky and stuff' by grace kimberly, which u can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z1Z7YUzqMo&list=UUbB8g0f-RD_QSRTu9bUY-MA
> 
> (i say can, but what i really mean is SHOULD. you should listen to it. because its the cutest)
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS TO ELE AND GRACE for reading this and being super nice about it, and a huge hug to Grace for a) editing this WHICH IM SUPER THANKFUL FOR and b) writing the song and consequentially providing me with a title uwu <3


End file.
